John Nash Column -- Records were made to have an *

Published 8:00 pm, Thursday, May 12, 2011

It was a record-breaking week in the Wilton High School track and field circles.

Almost. Kind of.

Well, actually, it was and it wasn't. Confused?

Welcome to the world of track and field records, where you think something as simple as the time it takes to run from Point A to Point B is easily measurable.

Most recently, in national circles, arose the talk of Geoffrey Mutai, who won the Boston Marathon with an incredible time of two hours, three minutes and two seconds.

It was the fastest marathon run in the entire history of running marathons, but it's not a world record. That belongs to Haile Gebreselassie, who ran a 2:03:59.

The reason it's not a record? Because despite the aptly named "Heartbreak Hills" that break most runners over the last 10K of the Boston Marathon, it is considered a downhill, point-to-point race and thus is not eligible to record any world records.

Twenty-six-point-two miles and it comes down to semantics.

Now consider the plight of the Wilton Warriors track team, which saw a number of records fall.

On Saturday, running in New Britain, Tim Becker, the Warriors senior distance standout, competed in the 40th Lindy J. Remigino Outdoor Track and Field Invitational in New Britain.

While these days distance runners in high school take part in the either the 1,600 or 3,200, tradition at the Remigino Invitational dictates runners compete in the mile and/or the two mile.

The 1,600 is approximately nine meters shorter than the mile, thus the 3,200 is about 18 meters short of being two miles.

Becker ran a great race, getting timed in the two mile at 9:34.31.

What happens here, though, is Becker doesn't get credit for breaking the school record in the two-mile, since it's not run in high school meets anymore and is not even posted on the school's record list.

Instead, a conversion time happens where there's an estimated amount of seconds substracted to Beckers's time -- usually 2.5 to 3 seconds in this particular event.

Regardless of the amount taken, Becker's two-mile time was quicker than the 3,200 record, but we don't know what Becker's time was when he actually passed the 3,200 meter mark.

The problem I have here is what if somebody comes along down the line and runs a 3,200 that is within a fraction of a second of Becker's converted time, which isn't official.

A variety of different what-if scenarios that could change a "conversion" record from an actual record.

So to me -- a track and field purist -- I don't think Becker should get credit for breaking the school record in the 3,200 (at least not until he does, which I think he will do before his WHS career is over).

Instead, he should be credited for the school record in the two mile and it should be posted on the board. (Chris Ringston's 4:22 mile record is still up there from 1973, so there is no reason why a two-mile shouldn't be).

Now, consider the plight of junior sprinter Brynn Parsons.

Last spring, Alex Delia's 15-year old record in the 100-meter dash (13.02) was broken when junior Kafesha Thomas ran a 12.83 in the FCIAC championship meet.

Thomas was timed in what's called a FAT time (Fully Automatic Timing) because it was tracked by a computer, rather than a stop watch -- which is considered hand-timing and has a human error built in from gun-to-finish due to the lag from bang-to-click.

In Monday's home meet, Parsons blistered off a 100-meter dash, winning the event.

Computers being the delicate creatures they are, however, the FAT reportedly didn't catch Parsons' winning time.

Hand-held times had her between 12.4 and 12.6 -- both of which were below Thomas' school record.

In the end, Wilton head coach Jeff Gee credited Parsons with a 12.74 -- still below the record.

Unfortunately for Parsons, though, her time will never find its way up on the record board.

Gee said because of the timing mistake and what he considered a strong tail wind pushing her down the track, it wouldn't be recognized as a record.

"Half of the records up on that board aren't even accurate," Gee claimed.

In other words, Becker gets a record in a race he didn't compete while Parsons is denied a record for a distance she completed in a faster time.

The solution?

Just stick an asterisk on all three times and let Becker, Parsons and Mutai all share a run and talk about it.

As for the record board, which I know for a fact that Wilton Track Association has worked hard to promote and get accurate times, if Gee feels the board doesn't represent the true Wilton High records then why is it even hanging in the field house in the first place?